


Guardian

by NervousOtaku (orphan_account)



Series: Tales of a 144 Player Fansession! [5]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Death, Guardian - Freeform, Memories, Parenthood, SBURB Fan Session
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 12:52:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10412559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/NervousOtaku
Summary: Or: It's Hard, Raising A Legendary Hero, And Nobody Understands





	

Her adopted sister had been waiting for something. Waiting very intently for something, but she never said what. Then came the car-crash, killing her sister, her brother-in-law, and all their parents. Miss X was left to wonder what it was her sister had been waiting for.

The answer came riding in on a meteor.

A tiny baby, almost the spitting image of her sister, chewing up a piece of sheet-music, was left in the crater in the parking lot outside the apartment-complex. There were differences, but they were so similar. So, _so_ similar.

And Miss X knew then and there, that her sister had been waiting for this baby.

Without her sister, the responsibility fell on Miss X.

She was _sure_ there was a world where she didn't pick the baby up. Undoubtedly sure. And she could only frown at that iteration of herself.

She named the baby Andie.

Andie X.

Andie grew into a very bright and creative young woman. The remaining half of the sheet music she'd chewed up as a baby became worked into a song of her own creation. Andie was undeniably talented when it came to music, and Miss X encouraged her to pursue this, hone it and make it better. She wondered sometimes if that was the reason why the girl had made that her Strife Specibus allocation. One of the hardest things to weaponize at all, yet Andie had a Musickind Specibus, and used it very well. Had she seen the encouragement to get better as a challenge? Or simply appreciated the support, so pushed herself to the limits?

There were still some things Miss X didn't know.

For example, if she had done the right thing in creating a new body for Andie.

She had known right from the start that Andie was _special_ , _destined_ for bigger things. So when the accident had happened...

She could still remember it.

The phone call saying that her daughter had been involved in a terrible accident. That she was on life-support. That it would be best to euthanize her.

A thirteen-car pile-up was nothing to sniff at. The fact that Andie had survived the accident at all had only solidified one thing in Miss X's mind—

Andie could _not_ die. Andie _must_ _survive_. Andie must get _stronger_.

It had taken almost an entire year.

Finding and testing materials, scrapping and restarting every time something failed, dodging legals and protecting Andie from the needle-wielding doctors. A year of suffering and strife and strain.

But she had done it.

The surgery to transfer Andie's entire nervous system and numerous parts of her organ system had been _far_ more than just stressful. Miss X was a robotics expert, not a surgeon. Nevertheless, she had succeeded. Pride and joy had blossomed in her chest when the exoskeleton had lit up, sat up, looked up, and spoke up.

At first, Andie had been very confused by her new, pseudo-robotic body. It took her a while to get used to it. But rather than hate it, like Miss X had feared, Andie had been absolutely _delighted_ with her exoskeleton. It set her apart and made her noticeable. She especially delighted in the resemblance to a fictional DJ whose music she enjoyed, and apparently other people did too, as it helped boost Andie's musical career.

Then had come the Reckoning.

Miss X didn't know how she knew it was called that. But when she looked into the sky at the meteors raining down, that was all she could think of to call it. On instinct, almost. She had stood on the roof, watching fire and stone rain down from the sky as she listened to the panic in the apartment below, Andie frantically setting up equipment and running back and forth. She recalled being disappointed and proud at the same time. Disappointed that Andie would be unable to go to the college she'd been _so excited_ for. Proud that her daughter was growing up.

When the sprite had appeared before her, prototyped with a potted plant by Andie, she couldn't help herself. Miss X had led the sprite into her lab and produced Andie's original body. The result had been Nymphiesprite, a rather lackluster copy of the original, but she had served her purpose.

Miss X had left after that, venturing out into the land Andie's friend had brought them to.

This was what Andie was _meant_ for. She couldn't stay any longer. She would only hinder her.

She had been messaging one of her own friends, a user by the name of QuietGraceAndDignity, while she traveled about. QuietGraceAndDignity was in a similar predicament as her, but had chosen to remain with their daughter. They said they still had things to teach her, and she would be unable to solve her quest without their final lessons. Miss X wished she could say the same. If that were true, she could have said goodbye in person rather than sending Nymphiesprite.

Eventually, QuietGraceAndDignity stopped responding to her messages.

She could only assume this meant the other guardian was dead.

It was their role.

To raise these young Heroes, bring them up and make them strong, then vanish from their lives.

Miss X knew this.

But she couldn't help but wonder if the others felt the same as her. Did they feel this same pain in their chest, looking at the child they'd raised up from the dirt, and knowing, ‘ _Now you are an adult. Now you do not need me_ ,’ or was she just too attached to Andie?

Despite everything she knew and everything she had done, as she lay bleeding out on the ground, Miss X reflected on everything she still didn't know.

If she had done the right thing.

If she was too attached.

How she knew some of the things she knew.

How her sister knew to wait.

Why she had allowed the gigiclopse to wound her like this.

If Andie blamed her for anything.

If she had brought Andie up properly.

It's hard, she thought as her eyes slid shut for the final time. It's hard, being the parent-figure to a legendary hero.

It's hard and even she doesn't understand.


End file.
